Community groups want stronger COVID messaging for diverse GTA

With 468 new COVID-19 infections today, Peel Region now leads the second wave of the pandemic in Ontario, and organizers in racialized communities are raising concerns about a lack of communication between the region’s public health unit and non-English-speaking residents.

“The communication or outreach has not been micro-targeted to them in any sincere way,” says Jaskaran Sandhu, a Brampton resident and community advocate.

Almost every day, all three levels of government are holding extensive press conferences, explaining the latest numbers, changing rules, new science and best practices for public health.

But Sandhu says this fluid information isn’t always being properly translated and communicated to diverse communities.

“Communications around COVID-19, how do we mitigate against it? What should we be doing? The guidelines have been confusing, sometimes contradicting, not entirely clear, and that’s for people who speak English as a first language,” says Sandhu.

Peel Region health staff says multicultural outreach is part of everything the unit does, including COVID-19 communications.

“We have a very diverse population in Peel, and do our best to connect with all of our residents in a way that is meaningful,” Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s Medical Officer of Health, tells CityNews in a statement.

Peel health staff say they’re sharing translated public health information on social media, through local non-English media outlets, and through influential members of the Punjabi community. The health unit also says it’s reached out by letter to the leaders of Hindu and Sikh places of worship.

Peel Region’s COVID-19 website can be translated in a variety of languages, and there is also a Community Response Table where residents can give feedback on how well outreach efforts are working.

For some, that doesn’t go deep enough.

“You actually have to get out into the community into the grassroots and engage folks where they are,” says Sandhu.

That’s where Neethan Shan comes in. He’s the CEO of the Tamil Canadian Centre for Civic Action – an organization that focuses on community outreach across the GTA – filling the gaps in government communication.

“[And] not just information about public health guidelines,” says Shan, “but also information about what kind of resources are available: whether they be government grants, small business support, food security support and so on.”

While Tamil Canadian Centre for Civic Action was given a small federal grant through the United Way at the start of the pandemic, Shan says most grassroots organizations are on their own.

“The work is predominately done by volunteers in South Asian communities and other racialized communities as well,” he says. “Because the pandemic has disproportionally impacted racialized communities – the outreach mechanisms need to be disproportionately funded and resourced, and we still don’t see that happening, and so there could be more done.”